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I attended an unusual wedding this past weekend. The minister presided over the wedding in a cow patch. We were driven to the pasture on a hay ride. The best man (my son) was barefoot, and the bride wore cowboy boots. But at least this millennial couple was getting married. I guess that puts them in a minority among their peers these days — sadly.

Writing for bloomberg.com (7/28/17), Ben Steverman notes in the Drudge-linked article: “The U.S. marriage rate — the number of new marriages per 1,000 people — has been falling for decades …. And research firm IbisWorld predicts the marriage rate will keep falling over the next five years.”

He adds, “It’s unclear whether the decline of the American wedding is a permanent trend. American millennials lag previous generations on many metrics of adulthood … Maybe most of them will eventually get around to weddings of their own — but then, it’s possible that many never will, and that they’ll bring the U.S. marriage rate closer to Europe’s.”

It would be disastrous for this country if we went the route of Europe in being a post-marriage society. The old cliché is still true: As the family goes, so goes society.

What’s happened to marriage in America?

No fault divorce has made it easy to get unhitched. When divorce is an easy out, then couples can look for an easy exit when the going gets tough.

Hollywood has turned monogamy into monotony. The irony is that surveys show that those who are married tend to enjoy everything on a much more fulfilling basis. And that includes intimacy.

“Living in sin” (as cohabiting used to be called) has lost its stigma — but most such couples don’t seem to realize that, statistically, living in sin prepares you for divorce more than it does for a happy marriage.

Although millions profess Christian belief, too many compartmentalize their lives and fail to live by Christian standards, i.e., no sex outside of traditional marriage.

Government tax policies, especially in the example of welfare, have subsidized single parenthood, thus, breaking the back of the urban family. Instead of actually helping the poor, welfare has ensured their long-lasting misery — because the family is the key to upward mobility.

A Marxist attack on marriage has been quite effective. In the Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels specifically called for the “abolition of the family.” My friend, Dr. Paul Kengor, wrote a whole book about this — Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left Has Sabotaged Family and Marriage (wnd Books, 2016).

Traditional marriage is good for individuals all the way around. Numerous studies show it’s good for your spiritual health, your mental health, your physical health, and your fiscal health.

Many today think marriage is unnecessary. They think marriage is misery, and singleness is bliss.

Perhaps one of the biggest myths of all about marriage is that feelings are all that matter. But feelings come and go. As my wife (for 37 years, thank God) once put it, “Our culture says: ‘Cling to your feelings.’ God says, ‘Cling to your spouse.'”

SOURCE: The Christian Post – Jerry Newcombe, D.Min., is an on-air host/senior producer for D. James Kennedy Ministries. He has written/co-written 26 books, including The Book That Made America, Doubting Thomas (w/ Mark Beliles, on Jefferson), What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (w/ D. James Kennedy) & George Washington’s Sacred Fire (w/ Peter Lillback). djameskennedy.org@newcombejerry